A Lincoln Police Department spokesperson said Tuesday that the ongoing investigation into a suspicious emergency, no-bid contract awarded by Gov. Jim Pillen’s Department of Economic Development (DED) will “likely take months.”
Earlier this month, Nebraska Public Media News reported that the police department was looking into the $2.5 million contract awarded by DED to an acquaintance of Pillen’s.
The relationship has come under scrutiny because state law requires state agencies to undergo a bidding process – or request for proposal – for projects that cost more than $50,000. State Auditor Mike Foley questioned the contract in a January report, when he said the department’s emergency designation was “unsupportable,” and it led to the bid going to Global Sustainability Developers LLC, “a company handpicked rather than selected through the ‘time-honored’ and legally required open, competitive process.”…